Our Hearts Beat in Time
by JasonGraceless
Summary: He finally opens his gorgeous eyes, and Annabeth has to swallow hard to keep from saying something about them. He stares around, confused, then lands on her. She bites her lip. "You drool in your sleep." / Happy 17th birthday, Annabeth!


_Dedicated to Annabeth Chase, who turned 17 today and is currently in Tartarus with Percy :(_

;;

He finally opens his gorgeous eyes, and Annabeth has to swallow hard to keep from saying something about them.

He stares around, confused, then lands on her. She bites her lip.

"You drool in your sleep."

;;

He asks her to dance, and she says yes.

He is hopeful.

;;

She can't just leave him here. What if he dies?

Heart sinking, she leans over and, drunk with desperation and anxiety, kisses him.

At least if he dies, he'll die knowing.

;;

The entire camp was hiding behind a clump of bushes, watching Percy and Annabeth argue heatedly, arms waving, both red in the face.

"Are you sure they're okay?" Silena asked nervously.

Grover scoffed. "Are you kidding me? This is how Percy and Annabeth flirt."

Lacy nodded seriously. "I'll tell Chiron to go get the popcorn."

;;

It creeps up on him, at first it comes so slowly he hardly notices, and then suddenly, he doesn't know why, but when it finally sinks in, it feels like he's been hit by a train.

He only figures it out when it's much too late, and she might die from the poisoned blade she took for him, when she's too much a part of him for him to even exist without her.

Eight letters, and that's what he's feeling.

I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U.

Add eight more, and he's finally being honest with himself.

A-N-N-A-B-E-T-H.

;;

Puke-worthy elevator music tinkles in the background as Annabeth talks.

"Zeus is going to be so angry, Percy. You just turned down _immortality."_

He sneaks a sideways glance at her. She is so beautiful.

"It was worth it."

;;

They're together. It takes her a while to realize it, but she supposes she knew it would happen all along.

Before they were together, no one had ever made her laugh like he had. No one had ever made her cry at night because she couldn't get over them.

No one had ever unknowingly made her suffer this much before, but no one had ever made her love them this much.

But, _oh gods was it worth it_, because when she's finally with him, this is the happiest she has ever been.

;;

She meets him on the beach, and when he turns, both of their sets of eyes widen a little.

"Perseus Jackson, you most definitely did _not_ look like that when you were twelve."

"Annabeth Chase—" he begins jokingly, then cuts off, eyes widening even more as he realizes what he was implying, distracted.

"Seaweed Brain, my eyes are up here."

;;

He pulls away, smiles, and presses his forehead to hers. Both of them are blushing.

"Good night, Percy."

"Good night, Annabeth."

He walks away, smiling.

She watches him go, smiling, cheeks flushed with happiness. They're both too happy. Neither of them register that something is really, _really_ wrong.

Until he wakes up alone, in a forest, and barefoot, and she wakes up abruptly in her cabin, heart thumping with fear, because, for the first time in nearly three years, he didn't show up in her dreams.

Oh, something is wrong, they both know now.

;;

He's gone.

Annabeth wants to cry. She wishes she could just wait until this was all over.

But Annabeth was never the type of girl to sit around, waiting for a boy.

And so she looks and she looks and she looks, and when she finally finds him, she knows that he didn't wait, either.

;;

All these months of separation and not even being able to remember her haven't weakened his feelings for her. They've done the opposite. They've only grown stronger.

There were some nights when all that kept him going was the sound of her name, a name powerful enough to keep him from accepting immortality.

He has to see her again. He will keep going.

;;

He spots her through the crowd.

She looks like she hasn't been eating or sleeping much lately, but she is still heart-wrenchingly beautiful.

More beautiful than his memories allowed him to remember. He feels his the fist squeezing his heart tighten.

Only touching her face, putting his nose against hers, one arm sliding comfortably around her waist and the other running through her hair, leaning in and _kissing_ her and never letting go of her hand will release the pressure in his chest.

Forgetting about Reyna's speech, he runs.

;;

He doesn't want her to go alone. He can't let her go alone.

But he has to.

And there is no worse feeling that exists in the world than him watching the one person who _was_ his world speed away from him on a baby blue motorcycle, having to know that he couldn't be there for her this time.

;;

He's not scared when he has to let go of the ledge.

He was more scared before he caught her.

;;

Honestly? After Tartarus, all she wants is a shower and a nap.

;;

He gives her a shirt of his to change into, and she slips under the covers, next to him, and her skinny, underweight figure almost disappears under his sheets.

He pulls her closer and wraps her around him, instantly warming her to the bone.

He gives her another kiss on the nose, and she feels safe and happy and so, so glad to be alive.

He falls asleep before her, and he wakes up early enough to make sure he's removed all traces of his drool from her hair.

;;

Annabeth almost dies in the war.

Several times.

He had known this might happen, and he already has a plan.

She ends up not dying, but he knows that if she did, it wouldn't matter to him, because he would be joining her shortly.

;;

Sitting in front of the roaring, twenty-foot, purple fire, the sea air rolling in gently, Percy behind her, his warm chest pressed up against her back and a blanket around them was when Annabeth felt most at home.

For a second, it was like none of it had even happened, like they were both okay. She could tell, she could see it in the other campers' faces that they were relieved. Maybe they were almost okay now.

_Almost,_ she thought bitterly. They had no idea. She felt angry and misunderstood all of a sudden, for no real reason at all. She knew it wasn't any of their faults. They were trying.

It just took longer to climb back out than it did to fall in.

But when Percy tightened his arms around her, like he knew exactly what she was thinking, and leaned down and kissed her jaw, and when he whispered "I love you," she couldn't help thinking that maybe this would turn out all right. Maybe they would turn out all right.

;;

They've long since lapsed into a comfortable silence, wrapped around each other under three layers of silky white sheets.

He finally opens his gorgeous eyes, and she looks directly into them.

"You drool in your sleep."

They speak simultaneously.

;;;

_A/N: Okay, it's almost 1 in the morning, and I've been writing nonstop since about 11 PM last night, and I'm soooo tired, I'm sorry if this sucked but I really wanted to post something for Annabeth's birthday as early as possible._

_I've been staying up until two in the morning for the past week, and my eyelids feel like lead, and I really need to *yawn* sleep *yawn* now._

_So, I hope you liked it and it fulfilled your Percabeth cravings, and if you did like it, please please review (do it for Annabeth... please?) because I spent quite a lot of energy on it, and I wrote a thousand words. I'm only asking for one. Please?_

_I can't believe Annabeth is in Tartarus right now... I wanted to burn my dinner as an offering to Hermes, but, you know... parents.. *sigh*_

_And a lot of you have been PMing me to update 'the golden-haired medal', so I assure you that you will see more of that later today, after I've actually slept... I might update 'don't you see what you do to me?", too, and I was thinking of posting a new project that I started. _

_It is Annabeth's birthday, and she's my favorite character (so is Percy. Percy and Annabeth. I count them as one character.), so I have to make everything super-duper-special with Percabeth sprinkles on top. I love them so much._

_Good night! (Morning? I have no idea)_


End file.
